Abstract Funds are requested for the purchase of the NextSeq500 Sequencing System for use by a group of VA- funded investigators and others who are eligible for VA grant submission to pursue research related to the health and well-being of the Veterans. The equipment will be housed in the shared Instrumentation Resource Facility at the Dorn VA Medical Center (DVMC) Campus, on which is also located the VA- affiliated University of South Carolina (USC) School of Medicine (SOM). Specifically, the equipment will provide a relatively less expensive, rapid, easier and less laborious tool to enable the analysis of the genome, transcriptome and interactome, thereby leading to the generation of massive amounts of data useful in the diagnosis and prognosis as well as development of preventive and therapeutic strategies against inflammatory diseases including cardiovascular, neurological and autoimmune disorders that afflict a large proportion of the veterans. This equipment is neither available at the DVMC nor at USC and therefore the acquisition of this equipment will circumvent current transportation of the samples to other institutions for generation of the data. Thus, the acquisition of the sequencer will reduce the cost and turnaround time as well as protect data privacy. This novel technology has several applications including whole genome sequencing, targeted sequencing for mapping of mutations or polymorphisms, RNA-Seq for detection of mRNAs or small RNAs, MeDIP-Seq for DNA methylation, ChIP-Seq for DNA- protein interactions and analysis of the microbiome.